


Cirque de Upside Down

by opulent_flame



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Circus, Angst, Drama, F/M, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Jealousy, Jopper, Martin Brenner Being an Asshole, Romance, always jopper, did i mention its jopper?, hopper is a strongman, joyce does trapeze, karen the tightrope walker, murray the magician, of course jerkface lonnie is her partner, performing under pressure, ted is the ringleader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:33:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22514791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opulent_flame/pseuds/opulent_flame
Summary: Jim Hopper is a strongman from a small town circus in Hawkins. He isn't quite sure what to expect when he receives an invitation to the most famous circus in the world, but when he arrives to the Cirque de Upside Down, he quickly finds out that not everything is as grand as it seems.- Jopper!
Relationships: Joyce Byers & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper
Comments: 80
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things - I am just a fan having fun

Jim Hopper looked at the enormous tent that stood before him. It was decorated like any other circus tent, massive white and red stripes billowing down with the random posters scattered all around to advertise the performers. As a fellow performer himself, many of the names looked familiar to him. He glanced at them, his eyes traveling across the colorful graphics. He had never met any of them, but a lot of circus performers had a similar gag. He felt like he hadn't really left his last circus when he looked around.The posters weren’t anything spectacular. Rather generic, in fact. But he knew that he wasn’t in at the Hawkins Circus anymore. The key difference was the large name written in black reminding him that he was no longer in the same place. It read, 'Cirque de Upside Down.' 

The Upside Down was arguably the most famous in the country. It had star performers from all over, some even recruited as children and trained solely to be in this circus. It was the place for the elite. Every circus performer dreamed of joining this circus. While those posters looked generic, they showcased the mos famous circus performers in the whole world.

When Hopper saw the black envelope on his desk with silver ink sprawled in a delicate cursive, he could hardly believe he had received an invitation to something this prestigious. He honestly thought it had been a prank. But when he showed it to his boss, the astonished eyes and almost immediate jealous envy radiating from him was enough to tell him that this was for real. He knew he was drawing a lot of attention to himself, clearly the fan favorite at his big top in Hawkins. But, he never thought word would travel so much that he would find himself with an exclusive invitation here. 

"You the new guy?" A deep voice came from behind him. 

A tall, bald man was standing there, leaning up against a pole casually. He had a friendly smile on his face, sweat trickling down his skin. 

"Yeah, Jim Hopper." He extended his hand. 

The other man shook it and winced visibly. "Okay, you really are the strongman everyone's been talking about." 

"Oh, sorry." Hopper hadn't realized how strong he had gripped the other man. He was nervous about being here, not that he would ever admit that out-loud. But when he was anxious, he didn't really focus on his own strength. It was a bad habit he never really grew out of, much to his own dismay. Did this guy really just say everyone had been talking about him? The Upside Down performers knew about him? How much did they know about him? Hopper scolded himself internally for panicking and tried to focus on the man in front of him. "Who are you?" 

"Benny," he wiped at his brow. "I'm the animal tamer."

Hopper nodded. "Nice to meet you. Think you can show me around? My invitation didn't really give much instruction." 

"Follow me" he gave a mock bow and took the lead. 

Hopper let out a laugh and felt some of his nerves leaving him. He needed to remind himself that even though these people were the best of the best, they were still people. 

Benny led him into the tent. As soon as they walked inside, Hopper felt his mouth fall open. He watched in awe as people were hustling and bustling about. He wasn't sure where to look first. There was juggling, the legendary ring of fire, a magician waving his wand about and shouting out in some language.

"So, our ringmaster is Ted," he pointed to a man who was lighting a ring on fire. "He's good, finds peace with the fire or some shit.”

“He’s been around a while, right?” Hopper asked. He knew about Ted, but the man certainly wasn’t at the prime of his career. Hopper had heard many of the names at this circus, and Ted was one of the veterans. He had been doing circus work for a long time. It was rumored that he could be on his way out if he didn’t start adding a little more to his acts. He specialized with fire, which had never particularly interested Hopper, so he honestly couldn’t say he knew much about the man. But, he did know that as ringleader, he would have to respect him and follow his lead more often than not. 

“Yeah, he’s a bit older than us. He’s easy going, so I wouldn’t worry about that or anything. But, I'm pretty sure he is hooking up with Karen, our tightrope walker." 

Benny gestured over to a young blonde woman. She was wearing a tight pink outfit that left little to the imagination. Her hair was teased up big and her make up was done dramatically to make her eyes and lips stand out. She saw that Benny was motioning to her, so she lifted a hand and waved to them, flashing a set of pearly white teeth. 

She made her way over to them, bouncing in each step to draw more attention to her figure. "Hi, I'm Karen." 

She was clearly a little bit younger than Hopper and Benny, and significantly younger than Ted. There was something about Karen that immediately drew attention to her. One could blame the make-up or the tight outfit, but Hopper could tell that it was her bright, yet ditsy disposition. She wanted you to like her, and she seemed the type to be willing to do whatever you wanted to earn your attention. 

He gave her a charming smile. "Jim. You can call me Hopper." 

"Welcome to the Upside Down,  _ strongman _ ." she beamed at him, her eyes obviously scanning his arms to see his muscles. “You got a girlfriend back home?”

Hopper opened his mouth to reply. He wasn’t sure how to tell his story. Wasn’t even sure if he wanted to. Talking about Diane, the miscarriage, their falling out... It was all too painful. He didn’t want to spill out all his demons to some lady he just met, but not mentioning it at all seemed like he was ignoring that it happened. It had been a long time ago, but really it hadn’t been that long ago. Some days he never really thought about it, while others the wounds still felt fresh. It was so simple yet so complicated. Before he could even begin to try and formulate some kind of response, Benny seemed to notice him floundering and thankfully stepped in. 

"Okay, okay, no flirting on day one" Benny rolled his eyes playfully, giving her a pointed look. Karen stuck out her tongue, flashing them a quick grin as she walked away. Benny glanced at Hopper. "Karen is a big flirt, but she's really just a tease. Only puts out for Ted, so don't get your hopes up." 

Hopper was about to say that Karen wasn't really his type when a loud pop came from behind him, smoke filling all around. Hopper’s thoughts about his weird love life were quickly evaporated as he started coughing and waving his hands to try and clear his field of vision. 

"James Hopper," the magician spoke. "I've been following your career for some time. Quite impressive. I must say, we're all expecting great things from you. Let us hope that you do not disappoint." 

Hopper made out a figure in the smoke and saw a small man with thick glasses and a beard. He was dressed in black robes and was cocking his head. 

"Murray the Magician," Hopper said, recognizing that as one of the headline names he had often heard about even on the other side of the world. Murray was rumored to be the best magician around. He was said to have powers of illusion that simply could not be explained. Hopper didn’t really believe in all that magic crap, but he had to admit, the man seemed to have some kind of talent. 

Murray nodded at him and then flicked his wand once again, disappearing before his eyes. Hopper blinked furiously, trying to comprehend how and what just happened. He looked over to Benny, who seemed unimpressed by what just occurred. He just gave Hopper an unimpressed eye roll.

“He means well,” he mumbled. “Nice guy, but something ain’t all there with him, if you get what I mean.”

Hopper nodded. He could certainly see what he meant. 

As the smoke fully dissipated, Hopper was looking around the tent when his eyes landed on something that made him freeze. Up in the air, he saw two people practicing trapeze. A small woman with dark hair, body draped in a deep blue costume that exposed so much leg that he felt like they were endless. She was pale against the light and he felt hypnotized as he watched her. Her movements were swift and elegant, an eerie amount of precision as she released her grip from the bar of her swing, falling down. Just when Hopper thought she might plummet to her death, her delicate hand was caught, linking with a man in a matching blue outfit who hung upside down. 

"That's Lonnie and Joyce," Benny offered. "They're our trapeze duo. Probably the most popular with the crowd. I’m sure out of everyone you’ve heard of them." 

Benny was right. Hopper knew who they were. He had heard all about them. They were the trapeze duo that everyone wanted to be. He heard all about the elegance and grace, but he really didn’t realize how captivating it could be. He always thought people might have been exaggerating, but just after one simple thing he felt like he was bewitched by the movements. 

"She's..." Hopper found himself wanting to call her beautiful, but caught himself. 

Benny let out a belly laugh that drew the eyes of others. He seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "Yeah, she is. But you better watch yourself, buddy. She belongs to Lonnie, and strongman or not, he isn't someone you want to mess with." 

"Are all the women taken?" He joked, trying to tear his eyes away from Joyce. He knew he was staring and making it quite obvious that he was amazed, but he wasn’t sure he cared. 

"Ha, you can have Flo," Benny clapped him on the back. "She has a better beard than you, though." 

Hopper laughed and shook his head. 

He finally looked away from the duo above him and followed Benny for the rest of his tour. He wasn't sure how many people he met, or how many places there actually were in this tent. He vaguely remember something about a man named Scott who swallowed swords, and some Russian guy who didn't speak any English who could throw knives. He tried to focus and remember it all, but his mind remained transfixed on Joyce. He had never seen someone move that way. He had seen dozen of trapeze acts, none of them striking him like this. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t shake her from his mind. 

At the end of his tour, Benny was showing him where he would be staying. "This is your place. Feel free to do whatever decorating you want. I live three tents down, so if you need anything, you know where to find me. I'm sure the boss man will give you a more formal rundown tomorrow before the big show.." 

"Thanks, Benny," Hopper said sincerely, shaking his hand once again, much lighter this time. “So, the boss man? He is the owner? What’s he like?”

“Yeah. Brenner. He owns the place. He’s...You’ll meet him tomorrow.” something in Benny’s voice seemed off.

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around.” Hopper said, sensing he shouldn’t push any further on the topic. 

He expected Benny to leave after that, but the man lingered. His demeanor was changed and he began to look around, as if someone might be there to hear. "Listen, I know we just met, and I have no reason to trust you, but I do. Watch your back around here. The Upside Down isn't what it seems."

Hopper was about to ask Benny what he meant, but the man then backed of the tent, shaking his head that he couldn't ask any questions. Hopper just nodded, watching curiously as he was left alone. Once he was gone, he plopped down on the mattress and closed his eyes. 

He had no idea what to make of that. He had no idea what to make of any of it. He really only knew one thing for certain.

The Upside Down Circus was certainly going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

Hopper heard a commotion outside that roused him from his sleep. He saw the sunlight peaking through and he realized it was morning. He quickly jumped out of bed, striped out of his old pajama t-shirt, and threw on a fresh set of clothes. He pushed back his tent flap and peered outside, unsure if he wanted to get involved in whatever was happening. 

He saw the man from the trapeze act last night. He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with white letters that said the name of the circus. Hopper tried to recall his name. He remembered Joyce, her name something he could not forget. But he struggled to remember the man. Whatever his name was, he was clearly angry. He was arguing with someone else. His stance was casual, but there was a clear look of disgust painted on his face. 

“This is bullshit and you know it,” he sneered. 

“I’m telling you how it is,” the other man replied. He was dressed nice. Too nice to be a circus performer. He was in a suit, his hair slicked back. The man was exuding an attitude that he was above everyone else in the room. He seemed sophisticated, but also cold. There was a harshness in his eyes, and Hopper wondered if it was always present or if it stemmed from their conversation. 

“And I’m telling you that she’s fucking crazy!” The trapeze man kept it up. “You’re going to believe her over me? Come on, Brenner, we both know I wouldn’t do that. It’s my reputation on the line, too.”

Hopper blinked as he realized who they both were. First he remembered that the trapeze man who was currently screaming was Lonnie. Lonnie and Joyce were the trapeze duo...The other was the boss man. That was the man behind the curtain that so few knew. It was Martin Brenner. 

But, what were they talking about? Who was crazy? Why was Lonnie so mad? Surely he couldn’t be talking about Joyce… 

“This isn’t a discussion,” Brenner said, his voice low. “Now, get out of here before I change my mind. Don’t let this happen again.” 

Lonnie mumbled something before shaking his head and walking away. He made eye contact with Hopper and rolled his eyes dramatically, casting a look back at Brenner. Hopper gave the man an awkward half smile, unsure of what to say. He looked around and saw a few other people had gathered to see what was happening. He saw Benny shaking his head, giving a worried glance over to a bearded woman, who Hopper realized was Flo. She was frowning and then turned away, heading off in the same direction as Lonnie. 

When Hopper looked over back to Brenner, he saw that he was staring at him expectantly. 

“I do apologize for that,” Brenner called out to him as he began making large strides towards him. “I hate for you to see that on your first day, but I’m sure that you’re aware that some performers have a flair for the dramatics.” 

Hopper nodded, unsure if he should comment. Brenner didn’t seem to care one way or another. 

“I’m going to cut to the chase, because I’m a very busy man and you seem like you’ll get the gist.” Brenner said. “Ted’s in charge. You go when he says you go. I think he has you set to go up after Scott? You can double check that. You’ll perform your same act that you did at the previous circus. I’ve watched you perform several times and I think we’ll stick with that for now to get you acquainted with everything. You really won’t see me much. I’m only here if there are... _ issues _ .” 

“Okay, yeah,” Hopper nodded, bewildered by what he has just heard. Brenner had been to the Hawkins Circus and seen him perform several times? The thought was terrifying. He had no idea he was being surveyed, and he was really glad he didn’t blow it. Everything just seemed to be happening so quickly that it was hard to try and wrap his head around it. 

“Good,” Brenner said. “So, I’ll be sending you an updated routine for you to work on and we should have you performing that within the next month. I hope you are prepared to put in the work necessary. My selection of you was not careless, and I expect this to be taken seriously or you will be forced to leave.”

Hopper wasn’t sure if he liked how that was worded, but he nodded again all the same. “You won’t be disappointed. I’m ready to take on any challenge.”

“Yes,” Brenner cracked a small smile. “Well, welcome to  _ my  _ circus, James Hopper. Performance is tonight at seven. I won’t personally be in attendance, but I’ll know everything. Remember that.”

Then, Brenner turned and was striding off in the other direction, leaving Hopper to stand there alone. He wasn’t sure how to feel about everything he just witnessed. He was still curious what Lonnie and Brenner had been arguing about. Something about it seemed like it was a regular occurrence, but Hopper couldn’t be positive. Also, why did he feel like he got bad vibes from Brenner? He couldn’t shake that feeling away, but he had to try and go about his day. He needed to find Ted and figure out when exactly he was set to perform. 

Hopper turned and saw Benny still lingering around. 

“So, you met the boss man,” Benny said, a small smile on his face. 

“Yeah. Rather clinical guy.”

“We can’t all be performers,” Benny shrugged. “C’mon, I’ll take you to where we all eat our meals.”

“What was Lonnie’s deal?” Hopper found himself asking as he followed the other man.

“Oh, Lonnie is a real piece of work,” Benny said vaguely. “It’s not really my place to spread around his business. Besides, he’d be pissed off at me for gossiping, considering I’d only be speculating, and I’d rather not deal with that headache today.” 

“Gotcha,” Hopper granted. He wasn’t really satisfied with this answer, but he tried to push it to the back of his mind. It didn’t seem like he would be getting any kind of answer, and he really shouldn’t be gossiping on his first day. 

He followed Benny until they reached a common area and the smell of food filled the air. Hopper hadn’t realized how hungry he was. Benny led him over the table and showed him where they could get their food. Hopper was in awe at the sight. There was a long table with various different foods. They must have had their very own chef, because he felt his mouth watering at the sight. 

“Pretty much the same thing every day” he said, scooping some eggs on his plate. “But, it beats having to make our own food.”

“Yeah, back in Hawkins, we never had anything like this,” Hopper marveled. 

Once his plate was full of eggs, bacon, and buttered toast, he followed Benny over to a table. The two of them sat down to join Flo, who had been sitting alone. There were a couple of other performers scattered at other tables. Hopper quickly glanced at her beard, noting that it was in fact better than his. 

“How’s the damage?” Benny asked, looking at Flo seriously. 

“You know him,” Flo shrugged. “You know her.”

Hopper gave them a curious look. He thought Benny just said he wasn’t going to gossip… 

“This is Hopper, by the way,” Benny mentioned as Flo flicked her eyes over to him speculatively. 

“You need some healthier food on that plate,” Flo told him. 

Hopper laughed, immediately recognizing the type of person Flo was. He could tell she was very much a mother figure at heart, and she had no problem telling you exactly what she thought. 

“Nice to meet you, too,” he smirked at her. 

She gave him a small smile. “I can tell you’re going to be a wise ass.”

Before Hopper could confirm her comment, another person joined them. 

“Hello, everyone!” Karen interrupted, plopping down in a seat next to them. She crossed her legs and brought her drink to her lips. 

“Morning, Karen,” Benny greeted, a mouthful of eggs. “Where’s Ted? Hopper needs to talk to him about the show tonight..”

“Oh, I’ll make sure he finds you later,” Karen said, nodding to him. “He isn’t coming to breakfast,”

“Did you wear him out last night?” Benny joked, earning an amused glare from Karen. 

Flo rolled her eyes and gave Hopper a look. “Really, Benny, we’re at breakfast.”

“He actually has a very important meeting,” Karen explained. 

Hopper registered that Benny had some quip back to her, but he found his attention immediately pulled away from the little breakfast group

His eyes caught sight of the small brunette woman that had been in his thoughts since last night. She entered the room, making a beeline for the food. She was wearing regular clothing, a stark contrast to her trapeze costume, but her beauty was still just as striking. Her eyes were cast down as she walked to get a plate. She was trying to make herself invisible, shrinking in on herself in a closed off way. Hopper noticed that the man of the hour, Lonnie, was hot on her trail, his faced scrunched up. His mouth was moving, but Hopper couldn’t make out what he was saying. Joyce’s back was now turned away, so he couldn’t tell if she was say anything back to him or not.

He really didn’t know Lonnie, but he deduced that he seemed like a real asshole. 

“I’ll have Ted come by your tent,” Karen said, drawing his attention back to them. 

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” he mumbled out the words, casting one last glance at the mysterious trapeze couple. 

“You’re welcome to do as much practicing as you want,” Benny said. “Hope you don’t get stage fright, Jimmy.”

“Ha, me?” Hopper laughed at both the nickname and the absurdity of the idea. “Takes more than a full house to scare me.”

The table chuckled and returned to their playful conversations. Soon, the four of them finished their breakfast, and by the end, he felt like he was in a good place with all of them. He and Benny really seemed to be hitting it off. He already felt like he had known the guy his whole life. He was easy going and his personality just seemed so genuine. 

Karen was also easy to get along with. Sure, she seemed to say some outlandish things that were a little too girly for his usual topics in conversation, but she tried to make everyone feel included and wanted to know his opinion about everything. She seemed interested in getting to know him, which was flattering. Some circus people could be real cliquey. 

Flo was the same way. She made him feel a bit more nervous than the others, but in a way that stemmed from him wanting to make a good impression with her. He could see her as someone he could go to if he ever needed support. He could tell she had this compassion about her, but also that ‘no nonsense’ attitude. She would definitely put him in his place, and he could always use a friend like that. He figured she had a tough time being a woman with a beard, and he liked how she seemed to command respect. 

With a smile on his face, and his weird encounter this morning pushed to the back of his mind, he made his way back to his place and decided to wait until Ted could come to his tent. He was only waiting a little more than an hour when the man announced himself and came inside. 

“Ted Wheeler,” he extended his hand. “Glad to have you on the team.” 

“Thanks, I’m Jim. You can call me Hopper.” 

“Well, Hopper, are you ready for your big night?”

Ted informed him that he was indeed going on after Scott. He was early in the performance, which made sense. They would do an act or two to get everybody settled, and then they would introduce him. Hopper had to admit, all of this was overwhelming. He had been here less than twenty four hours, met a dazzling array of people, some of which he still wasn’t sure about. But, nonetheless, he felt like things seemed to be going well. He had his curiosities, but it was really only first official day. He really couldn’t just force himself into everything and expect everyone to like him. No, he had to be slow and charming. But damn if it didn’t hurt him to not ask questions. He had always had this part of him where he longed to uncover things, even if they should be left alone. 

Once Ted had departed, Hopper made his way to the main performing tent to practice. He found his section easily enough, and began to go through his routine. This was something he could do in his sleep. He had been doing this routine for what felt like years, but he knew that his nerves could get the best of him if he wasn’t on top of things. He really didn’t want to blow it. This could potentially be the most important performance of his life. 

Everything was going without a hitch, beads of sweat starting to drip from his brow as he lifted the weight above his head. He felt like he had been practicing for long enough and that it was time for him to go and get some food and relax before tonight. He was dropping the weight when he wondered what he was supposed to wear. He quickly reassembled his weights and made his way back to his tent, hoping he would run into somebody he knew on the way. Unfortunately, everyone seemed to be caught up in their own rituals in preparation for the performance later. It was hectic, people running about and making odd noises as they tried to hype themselves up for their routines. 

Hopper shrugged, going into his room to clean up. As he walked in, he noticed there was an outfit laying out for him on the bed. He walked up to it, looking at the fine material with appreciation. However, the glimmer of a note caught his eye. The same card that he had received as an invitation was placed delicately on his bed. He picked it up reading the words. 

It read,  _ Come one, gather all. Cirque de Upside Down welcomes James Hopper to join our team of elite. See him tonight at 7, along with everyone else you know and love.  _

Hopper smiled at the note. This somehow made it all that much more real. 

Even though he still had a few hours left in the day, he was ready for his opening night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Something major is going to happen next chapter, so stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3

It couldn’t have been more perfect. 

Hopper had gone through his routine flawlessly, gaining energy from the rambunctious crowd that screamed his name. Was this what it was like to be famous? They had only seen him once, and yet they were cheering with an overwhelming amount of candor that it left him feeling like he was on top of the world. 

He took a long bow, smiling as he heard them chanting for him. He waved at them all, letting this feeling of triumph last as long as he could. This is what he had been waiting for his whole career. He was being appreciated and admired, and it everything he had ever dreamed. 

He gave one final bow and then made his way out of the center stage, coming to stand with the other performers. 

“You crushed it!” Benny gave him a slap on the back, grinning. 

“Thanks,” Hopper beamed at him, genuinely feeling so proud of himself. 

“You certainly didn’t disappoint,” the voice of Murray the Magician came from behind him. He was wearing a ridiculous costume- a frivolous looking green robe and hat with tacky yellow stars- but it somehow worked for him. 

“Yeah, let’s hear the crowd cheer more than that,” Hopper quipped, his ego shining through a bit. 

“Ha!” Murray rolled his eyes. “You do realize who still has to go on after you, Mr. Bigshot.” 

“Who?” Hopper asked, his eyes going back to the center. 

The lights suddenly turned off and the crowd fell into a quiet hush. A spotlight began moving around, a steady drum roll playing. Hopper followed the light and eventually it stopped, the crowd erupting with enthusiasm as it focused on two people in the air. 

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Ted’s voice filled the air. “Put your hands together for our marvelous trapeze duo, Joyce and Lonnie!”

The crowd was insane, and Hopper saw Murray give him a small smirk out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He wanted to watch them perform. Tonight, they were wearing different costumes than what he had seen them practice in. Joyce was wearing all white. It was skin tight, but it left him with this feeling that she was pure. She looked delicate, almost like one of those girls from a classic painting that was meant to live on infamously. He was consistently astounded by her beauty, and how she seemed able to pull off everything he had seen her in. 

Lonnie was wearing all black, his make up done menacingly and dramatic. His eyes were darkened, and his movements seemed more jagged. Hopper could immediately see that their performance was centered around evil and good coexisting. He had to admit it was rather brilliant and he wondered if they came up with everything themselves. 

The crowd had fallen silent again, the music filling up the tent. Hopper watched as Joyce swung back and forth, being held by Lonnie. Eventually, she swung herself onto the swing, and then was dropping down his body. She was falling, but Lonnie caught her by her ankle, and then she began to spin.. He had seen them do the same exact thing in practice, and yet somehow now it felt like he was in dream. Watching them made him forget everything else. All he could focus on was their movements, and it made him feel emotional somehow. 

Their routine came to end, and Hopper quickly realized that he certainly hadn’t gotten the most accolades of the evening. 

“Still perfect despite the constant fighting,” Murray commented as the crowd cheered. 

“Murray,” Flo said in a warning voice. 

The magician merely held up his hands in defense and then began fiddling with his robe as Joyce and Lonnie approached them. The two of them were breathing heavy. Joyce was walking in front of Lonnie, the dazzling smile she had flashed the crowd dying as she came closer. 

“See, I fucking told you!” Lonnie called after her, ripping off at some ridiculous lace Hopper hadn’t noticed was attached to his costume. 

Joyce had her lips pursed and crossed her arms as she came to stand with the group. “I said I was sorry.” 

“Yeah? She’s fucking sorry!” He laughed, looking around at everyone. “You ran your fucking mouth to Brenner! And look, we did the show and nothing happened!”

“Lonnie, lower your voice,” Benny gestured to the crowd. “People are going to hear you.” 

“Shut the fuck up,” Lonnie spat at him. “This bitch thinks she can just say whatever she wants and there won’t be any consequences. Did you guys see anything wrong with that performance?”

Everyone stayed silent. Joyce was glaring at Lonnie, biting her lip furiously. 

“No, you didn’t see a damn thing wrong because it was a damn good performance, like always!” he shouted. 

“Hey, don’t get in her face,” Hopper found himself saying, immediately ill at ease with the sight in front of him. He had only witnessed a few moments of this and he already pissed off with it. How dare he speak to her that way? Weren’t they supposed to be a couple? 

He felt everyone’s eyes dart to him. There was a brief silence, the only sound was Ted’s voice in the background as he introduced Karen to the crowd. 

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Lonnie asked him.

Joyce was looking at him now, her brown eyes large and in shock. 

“I don’t know what you’re fighting about, but you shouldn’t talk to her like that,” Hopper said simply, trying to take some of the bite out of his initial tone. 

Lonnie was staring at him like the whole thing must have just been some kind of joke. 

“Is this serious?” he asked, glancing over at Benny. Benny was looking away awkwardly, clearly not wanting to be involved. Lonnie glared, turning back to Hopper. “Well _ ,  _ why don’t I tell you why this bitch deserves me screaming in her face.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s a real good reason,” Hopper rolled his eyes. 

“Actually, why don’t you tell them yourself, Joy?” he turned to her, either not catching on to Hopper’s sarcasm or simply ignoring it. “Since you were so damn confident about reporting it to our boss?”

Joyce flicked her eyes between Hopper and Lonnie, quickly shaking her head no and averting her gaze. 

“She fucking told Brenner that she felt like I was going to drop her!” he spoke with so much venom that Joyce flinched. 

“You did drop me,” she said lowly, eyes briefly meeting Hopper’s. 

“Once,” he hissed. “Once out of how many times? A thousand? For fuck’s sake, nobody is perfect.” 

“I’m not having this argument with you here,” Joyce said, turning her back on him and walking away. 

“Yeah, just walk away,” Lonnie cursed. “Stupid bitch.” 

Hopper clenched his jaw. Lonnie was a real asshole. There was no way to sugar coat it. If he hadn’t been sure of it, he certainly was now. 

Lonnie turned, clearly not caring about anything more Hopper had to say. He motioned to Benny, who began to follow him instantly.. Hopper felt a little bothered with how everyone seemed to just let Lonnie say whatever and act like it was all fine. Why were they letting him call any of the shots? He saw Murray had stepped far away, somehow now speaking in another language. He was speaking to the Russian man, Alexei, and neither of them seemed overly pleased.

Hopper glanced over to Flo, and she looked back at him, her face holding little emotion. 

“What the hell?” he mumbled to her, lowly enough that Lonnie wouldn’t hear him as he stalked off in the other direction with Benny following him like a lost dog. 

“You’ve got a big mouth,” Flo said to him. “And a lot to learn if you want to last longer than a few weeks here.” 

“Me? He’s the one treating his girl like shit,” he looked at her with shock. “Don’t tell me you’re okay with that.”

The crowd let out a loud set of cheers. Karen must have finished her routine. Hopper wasn’t even sure who went on next. He was too mad to think about the show right now. 

“Nobody is okay with it,” she glared at him. “But you can’t help people who can’t be helped.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

Flo let out a sigh. “Hopper...you need to step away. It’s your first night performing, and you did a good job. Just let that be it.”

He nodded at her, looking away. She was probably right. He didn’t need to be making enemies so soon. Still, he wasn’t that guy. He couldn't just look the other way. He wished he could be that guy, but it wasn’t possible. 

“I’ll see you later,” he said to her, giving her a glance as he moved to go past her. 

She shook her head him, letting out a sigh. 

Hopper began going off in the direction that he saw Joyce go. He wasn’t really sure if he would find her, but he knew he had to try. He made his way through the tent, looking around for any sign that she was near. He figured she wanted to get away from the others, so he took a wild guess and made his way to the back of the tent. As the smell of cigarette smoke filled his nostrils, he smiled and welcomed the fresh air as he stepped outside. 

Joyce spun around quickly at this, looking up at him with fearful eyes. 

“Oh, it’s you,” she exhaled. 

“Sorry,” he held up his hands. “Didn’t mean to startle you.” 

She looked away, bringing the cigarette up to her lips. 

“I’m Hopper, by the way,” he offered. 

“Joyce,” she said. She flicked her eyes over to her pack of cigarettes on the ground. “You want one?” 

“Sure,” he bent down, picking up the pack. He slid one out and picked up the lighter she had tossed down next to it. Once it was lit, he brought it to his mouth, taking in a slow breath. “Thanks.” 

“Congrats on tonight. You’re pretty good.” 

Hopper felt himself stiffen at the compliment. Had she really been watching him? Why hadn’t he thought about that? He assumed she wasn’t really aware of his existence. 

“Yeah, well, not as good as you,” he said, wincing a bit as he realized how awkward he sounded. 

She gave him a small smile, and god, it knocked the wind of him. She looked like a goddess, the moonlight shining of her skin. She had let her hair down and he admired how it seemed to frame her face, despite it being a bit wild. Her smile, however, was brief. It was soon gone and she was tossing her cigarette down, scuffing it into the ground.

“You shouldn’t have stuck your neck out for me,” she said, shaking her head as she made her way past him to go back inside. She held out her hand and took back her cigarettes and lighter. She clearly had no intentions of staying outside to chat with him. He wasn’t sure what he had expected following her. They didn’t know each other, and she didn’t owe him anything. Still, he was thrown off by her reaction to flee so quickly. 

“Are you serious?” he asked her. “He was way out of line.”

“Don’t do it again,” she said. She didn’t say this harshly. Instead, she said it in a way that filled him with deep sadness. It was like she was telling him this to protect him. He really didn’t like that. 

He stared at her, watching as she turned away from him. 

“No promises,” he said. 

She stopped in her tracks. He thought she was going to turn around, maybe yell at him or at least say something, but after the smallest hesitation, she kept walking away. 

Hopper watched as she disappeared, deciding to stay outside and finish the cigarette. He should have been happy. Part of him was. His dream was coming true and everything seemed to be falling into place. Flo was probably right, he should just let that be it. But, he couldn’t escape this part of him that felt compelled to help her. He couldn’t just stand there and let Lonnie talk to her that way. 

He wanted to be simply happy, but as he thought of Joyce going back to the tent she shared with Lonnie, he was left feeling rather numb. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, my original plan for this chapter was rather different than the final product. consequently, the major event I mentioned last time will actually happen next chapter.... Hope you still enjoyed this one!!


	4. Chapter 4

The next few weeks were filled with nothing but success as he performed night after night. His fame was growing, and his act was slowly becoming more complex. He was given instructions each day on how to tweak his performance, mysterious notes placed on his bed with vivid details. He was certain that he was at the height of his career, banners now plastered around with him as a form of advertisement for the circus. He had to do a double-take every time he saw himself hanging for all to see, his grin smug was wide as he held up the weights in a stance that embodied glory. It was against a stark black background, his faced paled out considerably, and the only color was the red uniform he had been given when the photographer showed up. 

He was exactly where he wanted to be.

Still, despite all of this, in the back of his mind, he could not forget what happened on his opening night. He had not spoken to Joyce since then. It seemed she was an expert at avoiding him. Hell, it seemed she was an expert at avoiding everyone. He only ever saw her talking with Lonnie. He saw her speaking to Flo once, but her large brown eyes met his, and soon she was fleeing before he could even approach them. Nobody really had anything to tell him about it either. No matter how much he poked and prodded his new friends, they never gave him much. He was beginning to wonder if they even knew anything more than him. He was starting to give up on trying to figure it all out. 

Joyce and Lonnie were an enigma. Hopper learned that they came to the circus separately, but had been training together ever since. Joyce was in her early twenties, and Lonnie only a few years older. Hopper figured he fell somewhere in between them. He also knew that Lonnie had a bad temper, but he did seem a bit more outgoing and friendly than his partner. He was often chatting with Benny, but he seemed to be the closest to Ted. The two of them were always together. If Hopper ever saw Ted, he was accompanied by Karen or Lonnie. Lonnie seemed to be quite the suck up, and Hopper wondered if that was always a thing or if it was just happening because of recent events. Either way, he seemed to be kissing Ted’s ass every single day. 

Although he was always striking up conversation, it was obvious many people didn’t like Lonnie. Flo pursed her lips when he came around, biting her tongue and saying nothing but short replies. Murray and his Russian side-kick always found some excuse to leave the area. Even the sword guy, Scott, made himself scarce if Lonnie came around. Hopper could see that Benny didn’t love being around the man that much either. While he conversed as if the man was a dear friend, his movements were a bit more tense. Yet, despite everyone seeming to have an issue with him, none of them did anything. They all just went along with it and acted as though everything was fine, and none of that made any sense to Hopper. 

Lonnie seemed to realize Hopper’s dislike of it, and had no issue hiding his own distaste. He would flat out ignore Hopper if he was around, making sure to only address Benny or Flo. He would send him ugly glares, even bump into him purposefully. Flo warned Hopper to just brush it off and that Lonnie would get over himself eventually, and he had been trying his best, but he was over it. He swore that the next time Lonnie did anything, he was going to lose his temper and put the scrawny little shit in his place. Everyone else might be fine with him thinking he’s top shit, but Hopper wasn’t. He really didn’t want trouble, but if trouble was what Lonnie wanted, Hopper was more than happy to indulge. 

That’s exactly why he was blindsided when Lonnie showed up outside his tent before their show that night. 

“Hey, Hopper,” his voice called through the tent as a warning before he invited himself in. 

Hopper was startled, spinning in his chair to turn and look at him. Lonnie was in costume, a deep red that resembled what Hopper had worn for his photograph session. He had his arms crossed, and he seemed a bit unsure of himself. He wasn’t scowling or looking at him with anger, which was a first. 

“Lonnie,” Hopper said. “What’s up?” 

“I-” he looked down and sighed. He shook his head and uncrossed his arms, standing up straight and looking at him in the eyes. “We got off on the wrong foot.” 

Hopper blinked. What? Was he really in here apologizing? After how many nights of snubbing him and acting like a complete ass? Hopper didn’t understand why this was happening. These people were literally a conundrum. 

“Yeah, we did,” Hopper said evenly. 

Lonnie laughed. “But the past is the past, right?”

“What’s your angle?” he asked, refusing to just let bygones be bygones. 

“There is no angle,” Lonnie frowned. “If you’re going to be sticking around, I figured there’s no need for us to be enemies over a stupid misunderstanding.” 

“There’s always an angle with guys like you,” Hopper shrugged, turning away from him. He wasn’t falling for whatever this was. There had to be some reason he was doing this. 

“Guys like me?” Lonnie’s tone changed, his irritation rising. “You don’t know me at all.”

“I know enough,” Hopper said. 

“I told Joyce this was a waste of fucking time,” Lonnie muttered. 

Her name caught his attention and Hopper spun back around. 

“What?” Hopper asked, trying to seem disinterested but failing. 

Lonnie didn’t seem to care about his sudden change. “She told me I should come clear the air with you. That I was letting my anger with her bleed over on you. Guess she was wrong, huh?” 

Hopper let it sink in. So it wasn’t Lonnie having some ulterior motive. It was Joyce...Why would Joyce want Lonnie to be friends with Hopper? How often did they talk about him? He had no idea what Joyce wanted from him, but if she really convinced Lonnie to come and give his version of an apology, he shouldn’t shove that away. He didn’t want to cause any problems between the two of them, and a civil relationship with Lonnie certainly sounded better than this passive aggressive bullshit that had seemed to become the norm.

“No,” Hopper stood up. “She wasn’t wrong. I- uh, you’re right. The past is the past. I don’t want any issues if you don’t.” 

Lonnie gave a small smile and extended his hand. “Alright. To new beginnings. See you around, Hopper.” 

“Yeah, to new beginnings,” Hopper agreed, shaking his hand and nodding to him as he stepped out of the tent. 

He was waiting there all of five seconds before Flo came barreling through his tent. 

“What on Earth was that?” she asked, seeming out of breath. “What did you do?!”

She was in a light purple, her lips painted in a darker shade. There were white flowers placed intricately in her hair and beard, and her eyelashes looked long and full. She appeared very feminine tonight, despite her beard. She was probably the oldest person in the circus, but tonight she appeared youthful, and Hopper had half the mind to compliment her. However, her eyes were accusing and he didn’t want to keep her waiting. 

“Nothing,” he put his hands up. “He came to here to apologize for everything.” 

Flo looked at him as if he had drown a third head. “Lonnie Byers apologized?”

“Well, I mean, he didn’t waltz in and say ‘I’m sorry,’ but he asked to put everything behind us.”

“Oh, dear Lord, please tell me you agreed,” she clasped her chest. 

“I wasn’t going to,” he started to say. 

“James Hopper!” she screeched, whacking him with her hand. 

“Hey, let me finish,” he rubbed his arm dramatically as if she could cause him pain. “I wasn’t going to because he’s an asshole, but then he told me that Joyce asked him to.”

Flo raised her brow. “Why would she do that?” 

“You tell me. I’m surprised Lonnie actually did what she wanted. Doesn’t strike as the type to listen to people.” 

“He loves her,” Flo said, glancing at him. 

“Yeah? He has a funny way of showing it,” Hopper shook his head. Did she really think that was love? Did anybody here actually think that? He wasn’t an expert in love, but even he knew that what Lonnie had for Joyce wasn’t love. At least, not the love it should be. 

Flo shifted directions, knowing that wasn’t the conversation she wanted.. “Are you friends with her? Is that why you’ve stopped asking so much about her recently? That could be why she asked him.” 

“I stopped asking because none of you ever tell me anything,” he said. “But, no. We aren’t really friends. I’ve only spoken to her once. Maybe she just appreciated me defending her instead of staying silent while Lonnie berated her in front of everyone?” 

Flo glared at him. “Maybe…” 

Hopper wanted to ask her what more she knew, thinking maybe somebody would finally tell him something. But suddenly Ted’s voice called out, letting everyone know that the show was beginning soon and they needed to get to their designated places. 

“We’ll talk more after the show,” Flo said to him quickly, gesturing for them to go. 

Hopper nodded and followed her out. The pair made their way to where all the performers gathered before the show and his eyes immediately sought out Joyce and Lonnie. He needed to ask Joyce himself. His eyes flicked around, spotting Karen, and then Murray. He smiled at them as they met eyes, but he kept looking around for the trapeze duo. He spotted them walking up, Lonnie speaking to Joyce. She began to laugh at whatever he said, covering her mouth to not draw attention. Lonnie grinned down at her and threw his arm around her shoulder as they came to stand with the group. 

Joyce was also wearing red, that seeming to be the color of the night, and her hair was pulled into a tight bun. Her eyes were more prominent, black wings in eyeliner drawn on. She was also wearing a bold red lipstick, her teeth gleaming a bright white as she continued to smile. 

“Alright, everyone,” Ted called out. “The crowd is a little smaller than usual, but don’t let that get you down. They came to be entertained, and we’ll all do our best to make sure they have the best night of their lives.” 

Everyone gave out their own sounds of agreement, and soon, Ted was off to the audience, his voice echoing as he spoke into the microphone to introduce everyone. Hopper forced himself trying to focus on the performance, but he knew he needed to figure out a way to get to Joyce. He kept to himself as the night went on, doing his performance as he practiced. Ted wasn’t wrong, the crowd was small, and the cheering was not as fulfilling as usual. It was a slow night, and Hopper was actually surprised this circus ever had a slow night. However, a slow night here would have been the busiest night ever back at Hawkins, so he made the most of it. 

He watched in awe, like always, as Joyce and Lonnie performed. He even had a few good laughs as Murray did his weird routine. Flo got a lot of attention tonight, her outfit really getting her the recognition she deserved. He made it a point to compliment her, and she rolled her eyes in dismissal, but he could tell she really appreciated it. Alexei had a flawless routine, which was impressive. However, Scott seemed a little off his game. Nobody mentioned it directly, but Hopper saw Benny give him a small pat on the back as he came off stage. Overall, the show went by fast, and soon enough, it was over. Ted was thanking the crowd, the performers were starting to scatter, and the crowd was departing the premises. 

Hopper saw Lonnie was talking to Benny and Murray. Benny was saying something, and both men looked genuinely interested in whatever he was saying. Karen was gushing over Flo, her high pitched squeals turning some heads. Hopper was glad he was so tall, because it was the only reason he saw the small brunette woman sneaking away. Like on his opening night, he followed after her. 

This time, she didn’t get very far before he called out her name. 

“Joyce!” 

She stopped, turning to look at him. She gave him a small smile and turned her head in question. 

Hopper froze at this. All he could do was look at her lips, and fuck, she seemed so happy tonight, and that in itself was rare. He didn’t want to ruin that. Did it really matter why she asked Lonnie? She had done him a solid and he felt like questioning her intentions would just push her further away, if that were somehow possible. 

“Red’s a good color for you,” he found himself saying. He fought the urge to die of embarrassment as he realized she might hate him for saying it. But, it was the honest truth, and he couldn’t run away from it. 

A small blush started to creep onto her cheeks. “Oh, um, thank you.” 

“No, wait.” he cleared his throat. “That’s not what I wanted to say.” 

“I kind of figured,” she said, biting her lip. 

“I don’t know why you did it, and I’m not going to ask ...but thanks.” 

“Oh, you’re welcome,” she replied, smiling at him again in understanding. 

He smiled back at her, and it all felt a little surreal. However, before he could recover, he felt a hand landing on his shoulder. 

“Hey, Hopper, you gotta come see this,” Benny said. 

Hopper saw that Lonnie was standing behind him and watched as he called out to Joyce. “Babe, you’ve gotta come with us.” 

“What?” Hopper asked, sharing a confused look with Joyce. 

“Lonnie, I’m really tired. We need to go stretch,” she protested, shaking her head. 

“That can wait. Benny says Brenner had something huge shipped in!” Lonnie told her. 

“Dude, keep it down. This is top secret,” Benny laughed, winking over at Hopper. “Come or don’t come, I’m going to check it out.” 

Benny walked past them, and Lonnie extended his hand to Joyce. She let out a sigh and took it, joining them. Hopper couldn’t turn something like this down, his curiosity always winning over. 

This night was really proving to be a whirlwind. 

“So, I’m checking over some of the animals, and I notice they have this new cage being put in. And I’m like, wow, that’s weird. They didn’t tell me about any new animals coming in. I asked the men about it, and they told me, well yeah, it’s not for an animal and it’s because there aren’t any new animals coming in, but a new performer!”

“A performer being kept in a cage?” Joyce asked, frowning. She let go of Lonnie’s hand and crossed her arms, seeming ill-at-ease with whatever they were walking into. 

“Yeah, but this isn’t any regular performer,” Benny continued to lead them, the animals coming into sight. “I don’t know the details, but they can apparently move things with their mind.” 

“What? Like some magician?” Lonnie asked, his own brow furrowing. “Don’t we already have a freak for that?” 

“You guys are acting like I know all the answers. All I know is Brenner has this person coming in and it’s going to be groundbreaking shit.” Benny explained, looking over at Hopper. 

Hopper offered him a smile, but stayed silent. He wasn’t really sure how he felt. 

The four of them began to approach the cage, and as they got close enough to see it in full view, Hopper stopped dead in his tracks. The cage was glass, and Benny got one thing right. Inside certainly wasn’t an animal. 

_ It was a child.  _


	5. Chapter 5

“What the fuck, Benny?” Lonnie was the first to speak into the silence that had quickly consumed them. 

Benny’s face was white, a thin line of sweat visible. He flicked his eyes at each of them and shook his head vehemently. “I- I didn’t know!” 

“It’s a kid,” Hopper said in disbelief, unable to fathom that there was an actual child in the glass cage before him. 

“We shouldn’t be here,” Lonnie said, glancing over at Joyce. 

Joyce had her arms crossed as she stared past him. Her brown eyes were locked onto the cage, and something about her looked... _ lost.  _

“He’s right,” Benny agreed. “If we get caught here, Brenner would be so pissed.” 

Hopper nodded, but he stayed looking into the cage. Was the kid a boy or a girl? It looked so small, but it’s head was shaved down to nothing but a little peach fuzz. The kid had no idea they were there. It was sitting on the floor, some crayons scattered around as it appeared to be doodling something. 

Jesus, how old was it? It couldn’t be more than twelve, given its small size. 

“Babe, hey,” Lonnie placed his hand on Joyce and tried to guide her away. “Let’s go. We can go stretch like you wanted, okay?” 

“No,” she said. She said this so firmly that everyone turned to hear what she had to say. It was shocking to hear her speak this way to Hopper, and apparently just as surprising to the other two men.“This is wrong. We-we can’t just leave.” 

“Joyce,” Benny said her name in warning. He looked around nervously. Earlier he seemed to sure they would be fine to come and check this out, and now he seemed to be utterly afraid.

Lonnie sent Benny an annoyed look before turning back at Joyce. “It’s wrong, yeah. No doubt about that. But there isn’t anything we can do about it, and we aren’t putting our asses on the line for some kid we don’t know.” 

“I’m sure the kid is okay,” Hopper said, trying to ease the tension. He didn’t like the idea of walking away either, but he figured by how skittish both men seemed, they needed to leave immediately. “He or she is drawing, and they don’t look distressed.” 

Lonnie looked appreciative as he nodded. “Babe, Hopper’s right. We don’t know anything about the kid and we don’t even know if it’s being hurt.” 

“ _ We know, _ ” Joyce said lowly. 

Hopper turned his head to look down at her. What was that supposed to mean? 

“We can’t do anything,” Lonnie repeated. “You know that as well as I do.” 

“We really should go,” Benny said, inching his way in the other direction. 

Lonnie held out a hand to Joyce. She stared at it for a moment, and Hopper thought she might refuse. However, after she hung her head in slight defeat, she took his hand and let him lead her away from the sight. 

Hopper frowned. Joyce really thought this kid was being hurt and there was nothing they could do about it. He didn’t like that at all. He hated to leave, but he knew it was safer this way. Hopper followed the group, giving one last glance back at the kid.

He flicked his eyes to where he last the kid and gaped in shock as he realized the kid wasn’t on the floor anymore. 

It was standing up, staring right back at him. 

The large brown eyes were wide, and it almost felt like they were calling out to him. It was almost as if he could here someone saying,  _ help me! _

Hopper blinked and looked away, shaking off the sick feeling that was beginning to build in his stomach. 

The four of them walked in a heavy silence, quickly making their way back to their quarters. Benny was leading them, Joyce and Lonnie not trailing too far behind. Hopper was feeling so many emotions all at once. He wasn’t sure how to process it all. They really just saw a kid in fucking cage. What the hell was going on at this circus? 

“Okay,” Benny said, bringing the group to a halt once the cage was long out of sight. “Nobody can mention this. We never saw anything. Got it?”

“What? So we don’t tell anybody?” Hopper asked. “Don’t you think the others deserve to know?” 

“They’ll find out eventually. We just don’t want to be the ones they hear it from,” Benny said. 

“Why?” Hopper pressed. “I’m going to need somebody to explain something to me. I’m getting real sick of not knowing anything. If the kid is here, why can’t people know?”

“Because Brenner’s a dick,” Lonnie said, his tone serious. 

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Hopper was skeptical. He knew some bosses were jerks. His own boss back in Hawkins had been a piece of work. He couldn’t remember how many people had left the circus in tears after being torn apart. 

“A lot worse than you can imagine,” Lonnie hissed. 

Hopper wasn’t sure what to make of that, but the eerie silence that followed hit him like a ton of bricks. 

They were all scared of Brenner. 

And not just scared to be chewed out by him. They looked so afraid, like he might do something serious. 

“Shouldn’t we tell someone this kid is in some kind of danger?” Hopper couldn’t hide his disbelief. “If Brenner is as bad as you say, somebody has to help that kid.” 

“It’s not that simple,” Benny sighed. “You have to trust us, Hopper.”

Hopper was prepared to keep arguing. Why should he trust any of them at this point? All he kept getting was half of the story and they really wanted him to just sit back and do nothing while this was all happening? They thought they could vaguely tell him Brenner was this terrible guy and not expect him to want to know more? Hopper was ready to demand everything right there and then, but he didn’t get the chance. Instead, Joyce caught the groups attention, for the second time that evening, by sharply turning and storming away. 

“Joyce!” Lonnie yelled after her. “What the hell? Where are you going?” 

She didn’t reply. She simply kept walking away from them without any acknowledgment. 

“Shit,” Lonnie cursed, spitting into the dirt. 

“She can’t tell anyone,” Benny panicked. He looked over at them with wide eyes. 

“She won’t,” Lonnie hissed. “She’s just upset. Fuck, Benny, you know how hysterical she gets over things like this.”

“I think she has every right to be upset. We just saw a kid in a cage,” Hopper stated a little roughly. 

“I’m not about to stand here and have the same damn argument I’m going to be having with her all night,” Lonnie shook his head, and started to walk away himself. “Thanks a lot, Benny.” 

Benny crossed his arms and kicked at the dirt with his shoe. He let out a nervous chuckle and fumbled in his pocket for his cigarettes. 

“You can’t keep doing shit like this,” Hopper told him as he lit his cigarette. 

“I really had no idea,” he sighed, and his voice sounded so fragile, like he was on the verge of crying. 

“That’s not what I mean,” Hopper said. 

Benny glanced over at him. “I know.” 

“I’ll trust you on this, but I’m going to be needing a lot more to go on. I’m one of you now, and I deserve to know what’s going on.”

“You’re right,” Benny breathed out, bringing his hand up to his face. “It’s late now. And this is all so- I’m overwhelmed. You’re overwhelmed. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?” 

Hopper agreed, and really, he should have known better than to think things would change so easily. 

The next day came and went, and Benny must have been taking some lessons from Joyce, because the man seemed to have a skill for avoiding him. It had been almost four days since it happened and no matter how many times Hopper tried to get with him alone, Benny made sure someone else was around so that they couldn’t talk about it. It was infuriating. It was childish. Hopper had considered to be Benny a friend, but now? He wasn’t sure what to think. 

What made it even more interesting was how Lonnie and Benny also seemed to be avoiding each other. They barely made eye contact, and for the two of them wanting to play it lowkey, a lot of people seemed to notice the obvious strain between them. He’d overheard Karen expressing her concerns several times. 

Joyce was still sticking around with Lonnie, which wasn’t exactly surprising, but Hopper had noticed her staring at him a few times. He could feel her eyes on him, and everytime he looked over at her, she would avert her gaze. However, every time this happened, she seemed to do it slower and slower. He felt like she wanted something, but he had no idea what. 

He’d never felt this way in his whole life. 

It was the sixth day since it had happened, and none of them had so much as spoken to each other. Hopper was fed up with it all, tossing his tray of food onto the table with frustration. It clattered against it, sending out a noise that caught the attention of others. He sank down into his seat, and he felt  _ her  _ eyes on him again. Hopper jerked his head and looked over at her, not bothering to hide his anger, and this time, she didn’t look away at all. She was staring right back at him, and Hopper felt of flash of cold sprawl across his body as he thought of the brown eyes of the kid in the cage that had stared at him the same way. 

It was like she was screaming out to him for help, too. 

“You going to tell me the big secret?” Flo’s voice caught his attention and he looked away from Joyce to see his friend settling down next to him. 

“What?” he asked, glancing back over at Joyce to see if she was still looking. 

She wasn’t. 

“I want to know what the hell happened and why no one is speaking. Not that I don’t love eating lunch with just you, but come on, Hopper. You clearly know something.” Flo said, and her own irritation was present. She seemed to be about as fed up as him. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he shrugged.

“I call bullshit,” she said. “You look pissed. Benny is flopping around like a fish out of water. Lonnie seems more pensive than usual. Joyce is...Joyce. What happened?” 

“I can’t tell you,” Hopper glared at her. 

She quirked a brow. “Can’t or won’t?” 

“Guess you’ll just have to trust me when I say everything will be okay,” the words came out bitter and Flo winced at them. She crossed her arms and frowned at him, and Hopper felt a tinge of guilt for snapping at her. 

“Fine,” she said, focusing on her food. She forked the mashed potatoes with obvious distaste, bringing them to her lips. 

“I didn’t mean that,” he sighed. “Something happened, something really bad. Benny said he would tell me more about it, but now he’s just been avoiding me.” 

Flo swallowed her food and nodded slowly. “I take it whatever happened, Benny wants to keep it hush-hush?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well, maybe that’s for the best. Benny knows what he’s doing.”

Hopper let out a laugh. It was loud and aggressive, and he knew that everyone around could tell he was beyond mad. “Thank God for that!” 

“Hopper-”

“No. You don’t even know what happened and you’re siding with them! Jesus. If Brenner is that awful, why the hell do we all stay here?” 

His words echoed across the room.

He heard Karen give out a gasp, and caught Murray’s perplexed gaze. He felt Ted staring him down with befuddlement. Even Lonnie was looking at him with wide eyes. Flo was simply speechless, and everyone else seemed to have ceased their conversation at his outburst. He felt everyone staring at him except for one person. 

Joyce never even looked up. 

Hopper let out a grunt, snatching up his trey as he left the room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo, I finally updated! Hope you liked it!


	6. Chapter 6

He kept to himself for the next few days. 

Hopper had been avoiding everyone. He noticed the hushed whispers when he walked by. He felt eyes watching him, then those same eyes quickly looking the other way when he faced them. Most people seemed to be avoiding him as well. He knew he made a scene the other day, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. How was he just supposed to act like everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t? He wondered how many people knew about that kid. He wondered if everyone just turned a blind eye to it. He wondered if maybe this isn’t the first kid that’s been locked up here. 

It’s the third night since he blew up on Flo that he decides he’s done wondering about it all. He can’t handle living in the dark. He’s going to figure things out for himself. Hopper isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, and he needed answers. He can’t keep waiting around for Benny.He knows Flo won’t tell him anything either. Karen probably doesn’t know that much, and asking Ted would probably cause more harm than good considering his relationship with Brenner. Even Murray seemed to be a no go on getting information from. 

So, Hopper decided who better to learn information from than the kid them-self. 

It seemed like it was his only option at this point. 

He waited until the show was over that night and he lingered in his section, slowly cleaning up his supplies. He made sure that he’s the last one there. The Russian man was extra slow tonight, much to his dismay. He was looking over his knives for what felt like forever, but eventually he left and Hopper was left alone. 

He put everything away, shoving it in his boxes, and turned to make his way to the cage. 

“What are you doing?” her voice makes him stop in his tracks. 

He spins around to see Joyce standing there, apprehension written all over her face. 

“What am  _ I  _ doing?” he got defensive and tried to flip it on her. “What are  _ you _ doing?” 

She crossed her arms. “I went to your tent and you weren’t there.”

“Why were you at my tent?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” she admitted, and it’s strange to see someone who is so talented and graceful be so utterly nervous. “About- about what we saw.”

“Little late to talk,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for someone to tell me something since it all happened.” 

“Lonnie told me not to talk to you about it,” she said. “And I thought he was right.”

Her brown eyes were cast down and she bit her lip. He noted that was a habit she displayed often. He watched her take a deep breath and her eyes shot back up to his with a bright sincerity. 

“I don’t think he’s right anymore,” she said. 

Hopper stared at her. 

“Like I said, it’s too late for talking. I don’t want to hear anything from you people,” he turned away from her and started walking. 

“Wait! Where are you going?” she reached out and her hand landed on his arm. 

He stopped, turning down to look at her hand, slowly trailing the length of her arm before making it to her eyes. 

“To talk to the kid.” 

He was ready to hear her protests. He was ready to hear about why it wasn’t safe and how he needed to stay out if it. How he couldn’t possibly know what he was doing. He expected everything Flo said to him to be repeated. 

“I’m coming with you,” she said instead. 

Hopper held her gaze, and then nodded. 

“Don’t slow me down,” he said, still a bit bitter from everything. 

Joyce said nothing to this and she followed him. He tried to clear his head as he strode toward his goal. He knew what he wanted to ask the kid, but Joyce was throwing him off. He had expected this to be a solo mission, but here she was. 

This woman was all over the place. 

One day she was sharing cigarettes with him, the next ignoring him completely. Was she actually following him right now? Didn’t everyone all think he was being completely ridiculous? Should he actually let her come with him? He reflected on her outburst at seeing the kid, how she yelled at all of them. He thought about the look she gave him the other day before his own outburst. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised that she’s the one here with him, but he still can’t shake the feeling that maybe he should have told her not to come with him. It might be dangerous. At least, that’s the impression everyone kept giving him. Although, Hopper had a feeling that even if he told her no, she would have done whatever she wanted anyways. She seemed to have her mind made up. 

She was just as mad as him about that kid. 

And she must trust Hopper on some level. After all, she betrayed Lonnie to come talk to him about it tonight. She was probably doing everything she wasn’t supposed to be doing right now.

The only thing was, could he trust her? 

As the cage came into sight, he straightened his back and tried to walk with confidence. What if Joyce was only here to try and get him caught? Would she do that? She might go and tell Benny and Lonnie that he came here tonight. 

_ Stop being an idiot.  _

He shook away those thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to get paranoid. If Joyce betrayed him, he would deal with those consequences later. 

He needed answers. 

“What are you going to say?” Joyce whispered as they came to a stop near the glass.

He ignored her. They were so much closer to the cage than last time. His heart was thudding in his chest. He couldn’t believe they were doing this. 

“Do you think she can hear us? Joyce asked, her voice slightly louder this time. 

Hopper looked down at her. “She? The kid is a girl?”

“Yes,” a slightly muffled voice broke through the air and Hopper saw Joyce’s eyes go wide. 

He jerked his head up and saw the kid standing in front of them, the only thing between them was the cage. It was a girl, he confirmed for himself, as he looked at her closer. She was watching them with those large eyes that he remembered so distinctly. 

“Who are you?” Hopper asked slowly. He didn’t want to frighten her, but he needed to be direct. They didn’t have time to fool around. “Why do they have you locked up?” 

Suddenly, her eyes were narrowed at him, her face full of suspicion. He noticed that she had dried blood under her nose, and she looked a little pale. She turned her head at him, and something about it seemed a bit threatening. 

“I’m Joyce,” Joyce spoke up from beside him. “I live here, just like you. I came here when I was a little girl, and I perform in the circus. I do trapeze.”

The girl looked to her. Her features softened slightly as she listened, but she still did not speak. 

“This is Hopper,” Joyce added. “He is new. Kind of like you. He got here from another circus.” 

The girl nodded once, glancing back at Hopper. 

“Are those your drawings?” Joyce gestured to the pieces of paper scattered around with childlike scribbles. 

She gave Joyce a stange look and then went over to the drawings and picked one up. She held it the glass to show the two of them. 

Hopper looked over at Joyce, unsure of what he should do. He had no idea how to act around kids. The only time he had ever entertained the thought of talking with a kid was back when he was with Diane. But then everything happened and - Hopper shut his eyes, pushing down the memories that were threatening to resurface. 

“That’s very pretty. I like the color orange. It’s one of my favorites,” Joyce complimented her. 

The child smiled at that. 

Hopper opened his eyes and looked at the drawing. It was extremely childlike. He wondered how old the girl was. Her drawings looked like they belonged to someone much younger. In the drawing, it was two stick figures, one much smaller than the other. 

“Who is that in the picture?” Hopper asked. 

The girl flicked her eyes at him. She brought up her hand and pointed to herself. 

“You,” he said. “You and who else?” 

She stared at him. 

“You and who else?” Hopper repeated. “Who is the tall person in your drawing?” 

She turned her back to him and put the drawing down. Hopper watched as she walked back towards the two of them. She turned her wrist to them, displaying what appeared to be a small tattoo on her wrist. 

“Eleven,” Joyce whispered. 

She looked up to Hopper with frightened eyes and he felt himself tense. 

“Eleven?” he didn’t understand. “What does that mean?” 

There was a loud noise from behind the cage, startling them all. Hopper felt Joyce grab onto his arm. 

“Go,” the child spoke, turning to face whatever was approaching from the other side. 

Hopper didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Joyce’s hand and began to run. He realized that Joyce was significantly slower than him, so he tugged on her a bit harder to make sure she didn’t fall behind. The two of them ran like they had the first night they saw the child. They were breathless as they reached the edge of the living tents, sounds of their fellow circus members filling the air. Hopper realized he hadn’t let go of Joyce’s hand as they stopped to catch their breath. He also realized that she hadn’t let go of his either. 

“What the hell was that?” he asked her. 

Joyce looked nervously over to the tents. Karen’s familiar laugh filled the air. 

“Eleven is what he calls her,” she said lowly. 

“What?” he furrowed his brow. “Who?”

“Brenner,” she said. “It’s her marking.”

“Joyce, I don’t understand. So he took this kid and tattooed a number on her? What the hell does that mean?”

She tossed another glance behind them before looked at back at him. He really didn’t expect her to answer. 

“This circus is elite for a reason,” she said. “He looks for the best, and if he can’t find a best, he makes one.”

“So he gets kids and trains them?” Hopper shook his head. “But why keep her locked up in a cage? Why-” 

“He’s a monster, Jim,” Joyce said, her voice shaky. 

“How long has this been happening? She can’t be the first kid. I mean, does her number mean she is the eleventh kid? Jesus, how long has this been going on?”

“She’s not the first kid, and she won’t be the last.”

“Does everyone know about this?” Hopper couldn’t believe what was happening. Did Flo really know about this? Karen? Murray? What about that Russian guy? There was no way Ted was clueless about everything. 

“Not exactly,” she shook her head. “They know Brenner recruits young kids, but they don’t know everything. A lot of the people met his standards and were recruited as they were. A lot like you.The difference is they don’t ask so many questions.”

Hopper couldn’t help but smirk a bit at her last comment. Despite the mood, something about it seemed playful. Did Joyce like that about him? It certainly seemed more like a compliment than a jab. 

The feeling was fleeting, however, as Hopper considered something. 

“How do you know about it?” he asked, his eyes staring into hers. 

Joyce opened her mouth, and Hopper thought she was going to answer. Instead, a man’s voice rang out. 

“Joyce!” Lonnie called out. “Where the hell are you?” 

Joyce shot a worried look at Hopper. 

“I have to go,” she said. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you more, but-” 

“Joyce!” Lonnie’s voice was coming closer. 

She let go of Hopper’s hand and took off in the other direction. Hopper watched her go, his hand feeling empty. 

He had no idea what to make of everything. He couldn’t believe he had actually gone and talked to the kid. Eleven, he supposes he should refer to her now, really didn’t tell him much. 

But Joyce...Joyce had told him so much. 

Brenner wasn’t just an ordinary man. He understood why everyone seemed to fear him. He clearly wasn’t a good person. Who took kids and kept them in cages? Did these kids even want to join the circus? Where were their parents? What did Brenner want with Eleven? What act was he training her for? 

Hopper was beginning to uncover the mysteries of this circus, but it seemed he still had a lot to learn. 

And he certainly wasn’t liking what he knew so far. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What?! I actually posted a chapter?! I'm just as surprised as you. Anyways, hope you liked it! I promise to try and have the next chapter up quicker than I did this one. Let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

“You look like you got hit by a truck,” Flo said to him, approaching him with a quirked brow. 

She was dressed casually, sporting an old red shirt with some coffee shop logo he didn’t recognize and a pair of black pants.

“Slept terrible,” Hopper set his weights down.

He had spent most of his morning working out and hadn’t exactly been anticipating any company. He hadn’t spoken to her since he lost his temper, but she seemed to have decided that was in the past. 

“I bet,” she said, still looking at him skeptically.

He stared at her, trying to keep his emotions in check. Could she know what he and Joyce saw last night? No, it couldn’t be possible. Unless Joyce ratted him out? He had his suspicions about her, but something told him to squash those down. There was no way she would have betrayed him. But would she have considered confiding in Flo a betrayal? Flo was his closest friend, afterall, and maybe she thought he would have told Flo himself? 

Shit. 

_ Shit _ .

“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice sounding much more casual than he felt. 

She made a face at him. “I just mean you look awful, Hopper. I can tell you slept terrible.”

He felt relief flood over him. 

_ You’re panicking over nothing. Stop freaking out. Joyce isn’t going to tell anyone.  _

“Oh, yeah. I did,” he said, lifting his weights up again over his head. 

Flo watched him for moment. 

“You still on about Benny and all that?” she asked. 

“No,” he breathed out, letting the weight drop down again. “I thought it over, and you were right. Best to just keep my nose out of places it doesn’t belong.” 

Flo considered him. 

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type to actually listen to other people’s advice.” 

“What? Me? You think I’m stubborn?” he batted his eyes at her. 

“About as stubborn as they come,” she laughed, shaking her head. 

“Yeah, well, it’s part of my charm.” 

She rolled her eyes at him. 

“I’ll see you at lunch,” she told him. “And you better not stand me up.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

He watched as Flo walked away, and he decided to clean up. He set his weights aside and made his way back to his tent. He gathered up his clothes and made his way to the showers. The showers were probably the worst thing about any circus. This circus was still clearly better than his previous, but the showers were still shit. He was always too big or too tall for the shower head, and the water was only lukewarm at best. 

He gave an involuntary shiver as the water hit his back, and he closed his eyes. He was relived to think that he had Flo fooled. He was sure she still had some suspicions, but she seemed to buy he let everything with Benny go. He was almost positive she had no idea what he and Joyce had witnessed the previous night. 

Hopper needed to go back to Eleven. His visit had been cut far too short. He felt like for every question that was answered, it just created another. He knew his next step was to try and talk with Joyce. She would likely want to return with him. Hopper wasn’t sure if she would even want to go back, but he felt a small comfort in just the mere thought that she might go back with him. She seemed to be better at communicating with the girl, and she also seemed like she had more information that she wanted to give him.

The only problem was he wasn’t sure how to get her alone. 

Maybe he should just do exactly what he did yesterday and she’ll just show up again? It wasn’t exactly a solid plan, but he didn’t want to raise any suspicion. Would it be too risky to go back to back nights? Perhaps it would be better if he waited a few more nights before returning. But, if he waited too long, he might go crazy not knowing what was happening. 

He shook his head. 

He had to go tonight. 

He shut off the water and blindly reached for his towel, wrapping it around his hips. He made his way out of the bathroom and as he stepped out, his eyes fell onto Benny. The man was looking down as walked in, and Hopper couldn’t help but to notice where his gaze was lingering. Benny’s hand was wrapped up tightly with some type of white bandage like material. 

When did that happen? 

“Benny?” Hopper asked, watching as he snatched his head up quickly. 

“H-hopper!” he stuttered. “Didn’t expect to see you in here.” 

“Well, I do shower on occasion,” he said. 

Benny gave a laugh that sounded entirely too forced. 

“What happened to your hand?” Hopper asked, nodding towards it. 

“Oh? This?” he moved his hand. “Being an animal tamer isn’t always the safest job, you know?” 

Hopper nodded, feeling silly for not thinking about that. “What animal did that?” 

“What?” Benny blinked. 

“What animal hurt your hand?” he repeated. 

“Oh,” he laughed. “It was one of the new ones. My fault, really. Anyways, I really need to shower. I’ll see you around.” 

Hopper watched as Benny walked past him. He turned away and made his way back to his tent, wondering if Benny was actually acting as weird as he thought or if he was just becoming entirely too suspicious of everyone. Why else would his hand be hurt? It made sense that one of the animals got mad. Hopper supposed a lot of animals could be temperamental. 

He tried to push the thought down and quickly got dressed. He made his way out to the common area, knowing Flo was expecting him. As he entered, he was immediately flagged down by her. She waved him over enthusiastically. He glanced at who she was sitting with, and was surprised to see her with no other than Karen and Joyce. This was probably the first time he had seen Joyce away from Lonnie in a social setting.

The three girls were giggling loudly. Karen was openly laughing, Flo was shaking her head, and Joyce had a clear flush across her cheeks. He felt a smile spread across his face at the sight. 

He quickly grabbed some food and made his way over to them. As he approached, he noticed Flo nudge Karen, making her laughter sop. 

“Am I interrupting anything?” he asked, looking between the three of them. 

“Of course not,” Flo said, and he would have believed her if the other two had been a little more discreet. 

Karen brought a hand up to stifle a laugh and Joyce’s flush seemed to grow an even deeper red. 

He gave a shrug and sat down. 

“Glad to see you’re feeling better from the other day,” Karen managed her laughter and smiled at him, seeming to have no issue bringing up his outburst “I know adjusting to a new circus can be hard. Hopefully nobody has been giving you any trouble because of it.”

“No, it’s fine,” he said. “Just a big adjustment, like you said.” 

“That’s what I told Ted,” she nodded. “You just let me know if anyone ever gives you any shit, and I’ll have Ted set them straight.” 

“Thanks, Karen,” he said. “I appreciate it.” 

“Of course! We’re all a family here. We’ve got to have each other’s back.” 

“That reminds me, where’s Ted and Lonnie?” Hopper couldn’t help but to ask. It was just far too bizarre to not see the two men lingering somewhere near. 

“Ted is having a meeting,” Karen said simply. 

“Again?” Hopper asked. “Does he have meetings often?”

Karen gave him a confused look. “I couldn’t say. I don’t pay that much attention to how frequent they are.” 

“Lonnie’s busy as well,” Joyce offered, and he narrowed his eyes at her vague answer. 

The other two at the table didn’t seem at all troubled by it. Hopper picked up his water, knowing that’s all he was going to get. 

“So, Hopper,” Karen said, leaning forward. “I’m dying to know. Do you have a girlfriend?”

He immediately choked on his drink. 

“Karen!” Flo scolded her. 

“What? He never answered me when I first asked him!”

“Some people are more private than others,” Flo sighed. 

Hopper recovered and quickly cut in. “I don’t.” 

“Oh?” Karen seemed intrigued by this idea. 

Flo rolled her eyes, and Hopper swore he saw a small smile tug at Joyce’s lips. 

“I had a girl back home, but it didn’t work out,” he said. 

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Karen frowned. “Was it because you came here?”

“That, and other reasons,” he explained, shifting uncomfortably. 

He met Joyce’s gaze, and he quickly looked away. 

“Leave the man alone, Karen. He obviously doesn’t want to spend his lunch talking about his ex-girlfriend,” Flo pursed her lips. 

Karen gave a sigh and relented. “I know what could cheer you up! Let’s go check the fan mail.”

“The what?” Hopper asked. 

“The fan mail! Surely you know about that?” 

“No. Benny never mentioned it.” 

“Probably because he doesn’t get much,” Karen chuckled.

“I hate checking the mail. Most of mine is just foul men poking fun at me,” Flo said, and Hopper noticed the distinct sadness in her voice. “You guys can go ahead without me.” 

He could only imagine how cruel some of her mail could be. People could be downright awful. His old circus didn’t really accept fan mail, but they also never got that much to begin with. As he thought about all the people at this circus, he realized it made total sense for them to get letters from people who came to their shows. 

“Let’s go see what kind of mail Hopper has!” Karen jumped up with excitement, grabbing Joyce by the arm. “I’m sure he gets loads of it.” 

“Sure,” Joyce said, seeming a bit more excited about the idea than he would have expected. 

Hopper stood up and followed them, matching his stride with Joyce’s while Karen led the way. 

“So, I saw Benny earlier,” he said, pointedly looking at her as he spoke. 

“Oh?” Karen asked as Joyce gave him an inquisitive glance. 

“Yeah and looks like he hurt his hand. Said one of the new animals got him.” 

Joyce frowned at this. 

“That’s so awful!” Karen exclaimed. “That’s why I would never work with animals. Can you imagine, Joyce?” 

“No, I can’t,” Joyce agreed easily, but her face was still filled with confusion. 

Karen nodded and led them into a room. Hopper glanced around and saw that there were piles of mail scattered around, some with sections labeled, and others just tossed around carelessly.

It kind of looked like a giant junkyard. 

Karen seemed to have her own section marked off, obviously one of the people who took pride in receiving her fan mail. She walked away from them as soon as she spotted sight of it, muttering that she wanted to sort through some of her mail for a bit. Hopper was not surprised to see she had quite a few letters.

He was surprised, however, to have Joyce somewhat alone this soon. 

“I can tell by your face that you think somethings off about Benny’s story,” he said lowly. “But it does make sense, right? I thought something was weird, too, but I think I’m just being paranoid.” 

She flicked her eyes over to Karen with unease. It was obvious the woman was too far away to hear and wasn’t focusing on them at all, but that didn’t shake away any nerves. “Didn’t Benny tell us that there weren’t any new animals?”

“Did he?” Hopper thought about it. 

Suddenly, Benny’s words from the other night begin to replay in his mind: “ _ They didn’t tell me about any new animals coming in. I asked the men about it, and they told me, well yeah, it’s not for an animal and it’s because there aren’t any new animals coming in, but a new performer!” _

“Shit,” Hopper muttered. “You’re right.” 

Joyce nodded. “Something isn’t right about that story.”

“What else could it be?” he asked.

“I think we need to go back tonight,” she said, and she looked up at with a mixture of hope and fear.

Was she really that afraid? Was she being as paranoid about him as all this?

“I agree,” he said, watching as relief flooded her face.

“Okay, and I think-”

“ _ Joyce!”  _ Karen squealed, running over to them with a note clutched in her hand. “One of your letters fell into my pile and I couldn’t help but to open it.”

Joyce cringed, holding out her hand to accept it.

“Sounds like you have a real admirer!” Karen handed it to her.

Hopper looked down at Joyce with mild amusement. She didn’t seem to have nearly the same reaction as Karen. In fact, she almost seemed as bothered as Flo.

“Don’t tell Lonnie,” Joyce joked, and it fell flat.

She took the letter from Karen and Hopper watched as she walked over to a large pile and tossed it down without really glancing at it.

“Joyce doesn’t really like fan mail,” Karen sighed. “She finds it creepy. I mean, sometimes it is, but nothing will ever really come from it, you know?”

Hopper nodded, considering how he would feel if he got letters that made him feel uncomfortable. He also picked up that Lonnie must have been the jealous type, which wasn’t the most surprising thing. But, to be fair, he wasn’t sure how much he would like creepy men sending love letters to his girlfriend, so he supposed some jealousy might actually be valid.

Karen walked over and picked up a small stack of letters and held them out it him. He took them from her and saw his name sprawled out on all of them in different handwriting, a lot of them distinctly feminine.

“Looks like you’ll have a harem of fans, Hopper,” Karen grinned. “But I can’t say I blame them…If I wasn’t with Ted…”

She winked at him.

Hopper let out a laugh. After a moment, his eyes began searching for Joyce. She was walking back towards them, a new letter in her hand.

“Oh! Who is that from?” Karen asked, looking at the envelope with interest.

“An old friend,” Joyce said.

Karen nodded, pouting slightly with the lack of information Joyce gave. He briefly wondered how long Karen had been trying to get Joyce to open up.

“I’m going to go get ready for tonight,” Joyce said, and Hopper didn’t miss the look she gave him.

“Me too,” he said.

“Alright! I’m going to stay here a bit longer!” Karen said, waving them off without a care in the world. “See you tonight!”

Hopper walked out with Joyce, and he couldn’t help but to glance down at the note in her hands. The handwriting on the top wasn’t exactly neat, but he was able to make out a name at the top.

“Bob Newby?” Hopper asked. “Is that your friend from back home or something?”

Joyce tensed, crushing the paper slightly as she did so.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to pry,” Hopper said quickly.

“It’s fine,” she said, and he could tell she didn’t quite mean it. “I’ll meet up with you tonight. We’ll figure more out about Eleven, and what happened to Benny’s hand.”

The way she said it made it sound like she thought the two were connected.

“You think she had something to do with his hand?”

Joyce bit her lip and gave a shrug. “Only one way to find out. See you later, Hop.”

_ What did she just call me? _

“Hop?” he couldn’t help but to question her nickname.

She smiled at him. “Yeah, it seems fitting. Don’t you think?”

He grinned at her. “Okay, yeah. Hop is cool.”

Joyce laughed, and he watched as she walked away, his heart fluttering.

It was funny, he thought. Here he was holding a handful letters from several women expressing their admiration for him, and somehow Joyce simply calling him by a nickname made him feel like  _ this. _

Hopper did his best to push down those rising feelings.

She was with Lonnie.

He barely knew her.

Hopper tried to focus on what tonight had in store for him, but no matter how twisted of a situation he could conjure up, his mind seemed to only go back to Joyce.


	8. Chapter 8

“I almost thought you weren’t going to show,” Hopper spoke quietly. 

Joyce came into view, emerging from the darkness as the pale circus lights revealed her. She glanced behind her, her brown eye wide and apologetic. He couldn’t help but to note that she was dressed in her performance outfit. She was panting slightly and her forehead had a small layer of sweat. 

“I’m sorry,” she breathed. “Lonnie spontaneously wanted to practice in our costumes for tomorrow.” 

“It’s alright,” he said. “You sure you can go tonight? Because we can-” 

“Yes,” she glared at him as if what he was suggesting was incredibly offensive. 

Hopper put his hands up defensively. “Lead the way.” 

Joyce cut her eyes away from him and started off towards the animals. He could tell that her good mood from earlier that day had certainly evaporated. Her steps were heavy and her posture was tense. She looked like she was about to snap. 

“Lonnie was being so ridiculous tonight,” Joyce huffed in annoyance. 

Hopper wasn’t sure what to say, but luckily, Joyce didn’t seem to care if replied or not. She continued on without glancing at him. 

“He was being so adamant about us practicing in our costumes,” she shook her head. “As if anything would actually happen tomorrow night. Its a routine we’ve done a dozen times. Its the same exact routine we did for tonight’s show, just in these new costumes. He thinks the material is too flimsy. He probably said eighty times that his costume was going to tear, which is just insane. I mean, my costume runs way more of a risk than his. Look at it!” 

Hopper glanced at her outfit, and he felt himself flush as he gazed at how tight it was. It was a purple leotard that certainly hugged Joyce in all the right places. He wondered how she was able to move in it with such ease and elegance. He was pretty sure he could rip through it with ease. He could probably tear the fabric with one hand....

No. 

He shouldn’t be thinking about ripping off her clothing. 

_ Jesus, Hopper, get a grip.  _

“You don’t see me forcing him to practice the night before as if it were a life or death performance,” she said, oblivious to Hopper’s less than noble thoughts. “All the years we’ve been performing, not once has his costume ripped. Not a single time! I don’t know what his problem is. He’s been so paranoid lately about every little thing.” 

“You think he knows something we don’t?” Hopper couldn’t help but to ask. 

This makes Joyce stop. It’s almost as if she had forgotten she was speaking in front of him so freely. 

“No,” she said, crossing her arms with discomfort. “I don’t think so, at least.” 

“Alright,” he said. 

Joyce looked at him as if expecting him to say something more. When she realizes he’s taking her word for it, her furious features soften ever so slightly. 

“We need to figure out what really happened to Benny’s hand,” she said as they walked away from the tents.

“Yeah, he was lying out of his ass,” Hopper agreed. “I was pretty impressed you put those pieces together so quickly. It was really smart.” 

Joyce blushed, her mouth parting slightly. “I - oh…” 

Hopper grinned at her. He liked how his compliment seems to have thrown her off. He liked that he seemed to have some kind of impact on her. 

“What do you think happened to his hand?” Hopper asked her. 

“I have a theory,” she said, clearing her throat. “But I don’t want to say it until I know more.” 

Hopper nodded. “You should lead again tonight. The kid liked you better.” 

Joyce glanced up at him with a small smile. “I think its because you have a very strong personality.” 

“What?” he frowned. He didn’t know what to make of that comment. 

“I didn’t say that was a bad thing,” she laughed. “You’re a bit abrasive, but I like your personality. You aren’t afraid of what anyone else thinks.” 

It was Hopper’s turn to blush. 

He tried to recover as quick as he could as they approached the cage, Eleven’s figure appearing before them. The girl was standing in the center. She was staring directly at them, as if she had been waiting for them to come back. Her outfit was the same dress as before, hanging off of her thin frame. She appeared to look exactly the same as the previous night, only now she had a small bruise on her wrist. 

“No,” she spoke, narrowing her eyes. 

Hopper stopped walking, immediately reaching forward to place a hand on Joyce’s shoulder to make her stop walking closer. Joyce flinched from his touch and he quickly removed his hand. She stopped in her tracks, but she didn’t look back at him. 

“Eleven,” she said softly. “It’s me, Joyce. I’m here with Hopper.” 

“Not safe,” Eleven said. “Leave.” 

He didn’t like the sound of that. 

He noticed that there was fresh blood coming down her nose. The girl wiped it with her arm, smearing it across her skin. 

“Maybe we should-” he started to say. 

“We already risked coming here,” she whispered to him.

He nodded, glancing back behind them with unease. It didn’t seem like anyone else was around, but why else would she tell them its not safe? He had to admire Joyce’s bravery, yet something about this situation wasn’t sitting right to him. He hated how this place was making him feel. Hopper often relied on his gut to make decisions, but he felt like his gut was always telling him to be wary lately. He didn’t know when to run or when to stay. 

“Did you make anymore drawings?” Joyce asked the girl, stepping closer. 

Eleven frowned, her hand fidgeting. 

“You were really good at it,” she continued with a tentative smile. “Do you draw a lot?” 

“No,” Eleven spoke. “Only when Papa says.” 

“Papa?” Hopper asked. “Who’s Papa?” 

Eleven flicked her eyes at him. 

“Leave,” she repeated, ignoring his question. 

“We just want to talk with you,” Joyce said. “Is that okay?” 

“Just a couple more questions, then we’ll be out of your hair,” Hopper added, sending another glance around them. 

He suddenly realized his poor choice of wording when Joyce glared at him. 

_ Shit.  _

Eleven didn’t seem to understand, or perhaps she simply didn’t care. 

“Not much time,” Eleven said.

“Do you remember your family?” Joyce asked quickly, realizing this was the girl giving them permission to speak with her. 

Eleven shook her head. 

“Do you remember anything from before?” 

“No,” Eleven said. 

“What? Like before she got here at the circus?” he was a bit confused by that. How could the girl not remember anything from before getting to the circus? She wasn’t that young. Surely she had some kind of memory from before. Even if she didn’t remember her family, she must remember being in some kind of orphanage. 

“What is your act going to be?” Joyce pressed on, ignoring him as well. It might as well been as if he wasn’t there. He frowned, but he didn’t comment. They were pressed for time, and he didn’t want to waste it arguing if Joyce would just tell him later 

“Mind,” Eleven said, pointing to her head. 

“What?” Hopper asked. “What the hell does that mean?” 

“Like magic?” Joyce wondered, clearly not sure what the girl meant either. 

“Magic?” Eleven said the word slowly, as if she had never heard of such a thing. 

Joyce furrowed her brow, and glanced over at Hopper. As he looked into her eyes, he could see thousands of thoughts swimming around in them. 

“Is Brenner your Papa?” Joyce turned back to Eleven. 

Hopper blinked. Why would Brenner have a kid and keep it in a cage? He seemed far too old to have a kid this young. Didn’t Joyce say that the kids brought in were recruited from other places and raised to be the best? What made her think that Brenner was this girl’s Papa? 

“Yes,” Eleven said slowly.

“How did you know that?” he couldn’t help but to be bewildered. 

Joyce let out a sigh. “I know a lot about Brenner.” 

Eleven’s eyes widened with interest.

“Did you call him that? When you came here as a girl?” 

“I-I can’t,” Joyce said, casting her eyes down. “I can’t talk about it.” 

A heavy silence fell on them, and Hopper didn’t know what to do. Eleven was looking back and forth between them. It became clear that Joyce wasn’t going to say anything else, so Hopper decided it was his turn to try and get some info from the girl. 

“Do you know what happened to Benny?” he asked her, fighting the urge to place a hand of comfort on Joyce. She had flinched when he touched her earlier without warning, and he certainly didn’t want to make her do that again. 

“Benny?” Eleven said the name with unease. 

“Yeah. Bald guy. Tall. Works with the animals,” Hopper said, trying to keep the description as basic as possible. 

“Bad man,” Eleven said lowly. 

“Benny’s a bad man?” Hopper furrowed his brow. 

Eleven only stared at him. 

“Did you hurt Benny’s hand?” Joyce spoke up. 

Eleven’s expression was unreadable. Hopper turned to Joyce, his mouth opening with surprise. 

“You think?” he couldn’t fathom the idea. “You think the kid did that? I mean, no offense, but she’s a twig. You didn’t see Benny’s hand. It was...It was messed up. I don’t think she could’ve done that.”

Joyce didn’t seem convinced. 

Before either of them could say anything else, the sound of male voices broke through the air. They were speaking harshly, and Hopper realized it wasn’t English. He wasn’t exactly sure what is was. Something about it sounded oddly familiar… 

“Run,” Eleven said, turning away from them. 

The voices became louder. Hopper felt everything freeze around him. He saw the three men rounding the corner. He could see them through the glass, their figures tall and bulky. They were arguing with each other about something. The one on the left shoved the one on the right .He glanced at their outfits, the green material standing out against the red and white of the tent. The flash of something else caught his attention, and he felt a weight sink in his stomach as he saw what it was the one in the middle was carrying. 

A gun. 

_ A gun.  _

Some man was carrying a gun in the circus, and he was walking right towards them. 

Eleven’s words hit his ears, and as Hopper started to move, his eyes locked onto one of the men’s eyes through the glass cage. 

Shouts erupted, and suddenly they were barreling towards them. 

He grabbed onto Joyce’s hand, and the two of them were running as fast as their legs could carry them. Hopper had no idea where he was planning to run to. He didn’t know how they were going to escape this. Even if they got away, these men saw them. There was no way they could get away, and yet, he knew they had to run. 

“Hopper!” Joyce cried out in sudden alarm.

He felt her hand be ripped away from his and he stopped, spinning around wildly. They hadn’t even made it a few hundred feet, Eleven’s cage still in clear sight. 

“Joyce!” he yelled, watching in horror as one of the men pulled her away. 

Hopper didn’t think. He didn’t have time to think. He charged at the men, ramming into two of them at once. He knocked one to the ground, the other slightly off balance. He took advantage of this, taking a swing at the unbalanced one as soon as Hopper steadied himself. The man grabbed his face, screaming out in pain. He let out what sounded like expletives, the sight of blood beginning to pool out of his nose.

Hopper turned back to look at Joyce, who was struggling with the third man. She was fighting against him, beating her hands into his chest with fury. He was smirking down at her, his lip curling with interest. 

Hopper noticed that her costume was ripped. One of the shoulder straps was torn in half, hanging down in defeat, exposing her bare shoulder entirely. 

“Let her go!” Hopper shouted. 

The man turned to look at him, his smile fading away. He shoved Joyce away, and she fell to the ground from the sudden force of it.. He said something in whatever language they had been speaking, and Hopper was glad he didn’t know what the man was saying. 

Hopper stepped forward, ready to fight. 

“Hop! Behind you!” Joyce pushed herself up from the ground. “Look out!” 

Hopper looked behind him, a gasp escaping his lips as he saw the first man he took to the ground pull up the gun. Hopper felt his heart skip a beat.

He was screwed. 

So fucking screwed.

He held up his hands, wondering how he was going to talk his way out of this. 

“We didn’t see anything,” Hopper said, trying his hardest to sound convincing. “We were just sneaking off to-” 

_ Bang!  _

Joyce let out a loud gasp and Hopper flinched as the gun fired. The bullet flew straight passed him, hitting the man by Joyce straight in the head. 

“What the hell?” Hopper breathed out. 

The man holding the gun then turned to the man whose nose was bleeding. 

_ Bang! _

Hopper watched, his mouth falling open as the man then turned the gun on himself. 

_ Bang!  _

The third body hit the ground, the gun clattering down with a thud. 

Hopper stood there in silence, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The only sound he could hear was Joyce’s breathing behind him. 

“Leave,” Eleven’s voice was weak as she spoke to them. 

Hopper looked back at the girl, her nose now bleeding like the man’s had been. She looked frail, her body slouching as if she had just done something arduous. 

“What just happened?” Hopper breathed out. 

“Leave!” Eleven screamed at them. 

He felt Joyce grab his hand. She was trembling, and he wondered if he was too. He let her lead them away from the bodies, his eyes lingering on them as they walked past them. 

What the hell had just happened? Had Eleven done that somehow? One moment the gun was pointed at him and he was certain he and Joyce was done for. Then all the sudden the man started killing his own people? Who even were those people? Where did they come from? Was that what Eleven meant by not safe? What was happening? 

Joyce brought them outside the tents altogether, the cold air hitting his skin. He realized she’d brought them to the guest parking lot. The air wasn’t refreshing to him in the slightest. He still felt light headed. He thought of the sight he just witnessed. That man just murdered his partners and then shot himself. 

“Are you okay?” he said, looking to Joyce. 

She didn’t respond for a moment, but then she gave him a slow nod. “Are you?” 

“I thought we were dead,” he admitted. “I saw the gun and I had no idea how the hell I was going to get us out of that. But then...I don’t know what happened.” 

“I think,” Joyce said with a small pause. “I think Eleven did that.” 

“Jesus,” he gulped. “But how? She can do stuff with her mind?” 

“She said that’s what Brenner was having her do for her act,” Joyce said. “She said the word, ‘Mind.’”

“But why? Why save us?” 

“I don’t know,” Joyce said. “This is bad, Hopper.” 

Hopper brought his hand up to his head, rubbing the back of it with unease. “What do we do?” 

“We can’t go back,” she said. 

“But what about Eleven?” 

Joyce looked away from him, biting her lip. Hopper noticed she was still trembling, and he wondered if it was from what they just witnessed or how cold it was outside. He figured it was a mixture of both. 

“We’ll have to figure it out,” she said. “Right now, we need to worry about what’s going to happen because of tonight.” 

Hopper frowned. She was right. There was no telling. The others must have had the gunshots ring out. He opened his mouth to say something to her, only to let out a gasp of surprise as he felt Joyce wrap her arms around him in a hug. He was still for a moment, shock winning over. He blinked, suddenly wrapping his arms back around her. She was so small and delicate in his embrace. He liked the way she felt in his arms. It was comfortable, almost like she belonged there. 

“Thank you,” she breathed against him. “You could’ve left me.” 

“Left you?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she said it like it was obvious. 

He wondered if Lonnie would have left her behind. He wanted to think no, but something in the way she’s hugging him tells him otherwise.

“I’d never leave you behind, Joyce,” he said sincerely. 

She smiled up at him. 

He can’t help but to notice how nice her teeth are. 

Or how she has a dimple on her left cheek. 

He moved his arm, and it brought both their attention to her torn costume. Her smile faded away and she suddenly looked panicked. 

“Shit,” she said. 

“Can’t we get it fixed somehow?” he wondered, and his heart quickened as he realized neither of them had moved from the embrace. 

“Not before Lonnie notices,” she frowned. “Shit! He’s going to be so pissed.” 

Hopper frowned. 

“What am I going to do? What should I tell him?” she asked, her voice rising with panic. 

“You can tell him I ripped it on accident,” Hopper said, not sure what else Lonnie would believe. 

“Do you have a death wish?” she looked at him. “No...No I’ll think of something.” 

She pulled away from him and his arms stung at the loss of contact. 

“We should go,” she murmured. “Try and get some rest.” 

Hopper wasn’t sure how that was going to be possible, but he hummed in agreement. 

He’d thought he was going to die. He’d thought Joyce was going to die. He’d just saw three people die. The little girl in the cage was calling Brenner her Papa. She also apparently had mind powers. She’d saved their lives, but why? 

He and Joyce were alive, standing in the parking lot, and there were three dead bodies and a girl locked in cage while everyone else slept in their tents, blissfully unaware of what had happened tonight. 

_ Joyce had hugged him.  _

All of it was making his mind race. 

He wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally updated! Hopefully I can get the next chapter up sooner than I did this one, provided anybody is still interested in this story!


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